CRIME polished

A Case Study of Community Insecurity in Browns Farm, Cape Town

Simbirisiyo Mushanewana

Theology student

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of crime and community insecurity in Browns Farm, Cape Town. The study is written from the position of a victim of Crime and as a Theology student. It combines personal testimony with informal interviews of community members. The paper looks at how robbery and violent crimes have made the area a no-go zone for motorists, e-hailing drivers, ambulances, and service delivery. It examines the community's experience of reporting crime to the police social and economic conditions that allow crime to continue. The paper closes with a short discussion of the findings and recommendations to the police, government and the community at large. The aim of the study is not only to describe the problem but also to give a voice to residents whose daily lives are shaped by fear.

Keywords: Brown Farm, community crime, urban violence, policing, stolen goods market, unemployment, Cape Town.

Introduction

In many parts of the country, crime is a big problem. However, in some communities, it is so bad that people feel completely unsafe every single day of their lives. One of those townships is Brown Farm, a Cape Town township located in the Cape Flats. From the look of things, you will agree with people who say it is a broken and lost city that is burning to be a blood city due to high levels of crime.

In Browns Farm, criminals download the e-hailing apps and request drivers to come, then rob them. This guarantees them a daily bait. The destinations they enter on e-hailing apps are tempting to drivers who would be attempted to earn good cash at the end of the trip. Criminals rob drivers on the road, throw bricks and sell stolen goods on the streets. E-hailing, ambulances, and NGO workers are too scared to go in. Even the police seem to be reluctant and normalised complaints and cases.

This study listens to residents of Browns Farm. It asks: What is crime really like in Brown Farm? Why is it happening? And the community’s thoughts and what needs to change. To solve the problem without an inside understanding might be difficult. The eyes of the people who experience it on daily may play an important role.

This paper argues that crime in Browns Farm is not just a policing problem. It is also a community problem and an economic problem. These three must be fixed together for effective change.

What is Brown Farm

It is a Cape Flats township in Cape Town, Phillipi. Like many other townships in the Western Cape, there are high levels of poverty, unemployment and poor service delivery. Many families live in matchbox houses with extended families (a resident said there is no dust bin for relatives in South Africa). Which is completely different from my culture. In my culture, repeated wrong-doing leads to isolation by your real family members before the society or the community. There are not enough job opportunities nearby.

Generally, South Africa as a country is known for high crime rates. According to South African Statistics of 2023, thousands of people are murdered every year, including robberies and heavy injuries to victims. Fewer resources and less government support may lead to this type of suffering, according to Pinnock 2016. Youth in Phillip have no other activities; according to some residents, this leads to crime. These problems are inseparable and cannot be resolved one by one. The relationship between police and the community has soured; people seem to have lost trust in the police because they seem not to be protected as eyewitnesses; they become the target; hence they fear for their lives, according to one resident who was also in fear but requested to meet us at the mall for further discussion instead of an open interview. We then decided to do the same for the rest of our interviews for our victims not to be targeted.

Qualitative study

We relied heavily on the author’s experience as a victim, his son as a victim on separate incidents, people’s stories and experiences. The author took time to go back to understand what life really is like for the residents. The interview was held with ordinary residents, Zizipo, Andile and Anesipho, to mention a few; all were willing to talk only when they were not within the vicinity in their community but somewhere else due to fear. Arrangements were made to meet them at different points. This was in addition to the author's experience as a victim.

The author was robbed on the 19 of June in the morning while a street full of residents was watching. The criminals took their time, even asked for passwords for a MacBook, iPhone, Samsung and bank card PIN, meaning they had all the time, not even scared and walked away not running. The group was like a soccer team and a community of a hundred people watching the twenty-minute robbery. After the robbery, the community came to ask questions....